Lucille Ball

DOB: 6th August 1911 DOD: 26th April 1989

Known for: Actress, Comedian, Producer and first female studio executive

Lucille Ball has become a bit of a legend in the comedy and television world with shows like I Love Lucy. She became a household name in the 1950s because for four of the six seasons I Love Lucy was the most watched show in the United States. Lucille and her husband started a production company called Desilu Productions, which resulted in Lucille becoming the first female studio head in Hollywood.

Lucille was born in New York, and despite being a daddy’s girl, she lost her father to typhoid fever at only 4 years old, her mother was pregnant with their 2^nd child. As a child Lucille was known as a tomboy partly because her father would rough-house with her encouraging her rambunctious behaviour. To help control Lucille energy, her mother DeDe would encourage Lucille to perform in theatre and even made her entertainment debut on the counter of her local butcher.

Despite being a born performer, Lucille actually suffered from extreme shyness, resulting in her getting tongue-tied when on stage. Due to this her time at New York City Drama School was not fun, while her mother fully supported her, her teacher did not, she was compared unfavourable to the star pupil at the time, an little known actress called Bette Davies (sarcasm). Lucille however never gave up.

To help her with her confidence she turned to modelling along with retail positions, for her early modelling gigs she was known as Diane Belmont named after a racecourse in New York. Lucille was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis as a teenager, which caused swelling, pain and stiffness in joints usually hands, feet and wrists. When these symptoms would flare up Lucille would go home, during one of these flares she dyed her natural light brown hair to bright blonde.

As a newly dyed blonde bombshell Lucille tried to make it on the ‘Great White Way’ aka Broadway. This failed badly with Lucille being told again that she lacked the confidence and talent to make it as a star. But she never gave up even after her arthritis flared up, forcing her to stop working for a full two years. She still returned to New York, changed her name back to Lucille Ball and gained a nationwide advertisement campaign for Chesterfield Cigarettes in 1933.

Hollywood sat up and took notice of the girl with a ‘face for the camera’ After Chesterfield’s advert she was offered a small role as Goldwyn Girl in Roman Scandals, she had to shave her eyebrows for this role, they never grew back. In 1943 Lucille dyed her hair to her trademark red hair, the shade was called “Golden Apricot” and was a henna rinse but the exact formula was kept secret to ensure that no one else had Lucille’s precise shade. Lucille went on to appear in 72 movies throughout the 1930s and 40s, appearing with stars like Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers and Cuban singer Desi Arnaz. 

Desi Arnaz would go onto to become a major part of Lucille life, career and legacy. When Lucille was younger her romantic type was taller and older men, she may have been engaged to an Oscar Broderick Crawford though a rumour persist that this may have been staged to cover an affair she had with a married studio producer. Desi and Lucille first met on the set of Too Many Girls, Desi himself was not impressed with Lucille initially as she had the makeup and costume to match a fight scene that she had just filmed for the film Dance, Girl, Dance. However, it was when she was out of costume and having lunch with Maureen O’Hare he became instantly smitten. Lucille was 28 and Desi was 23 when they married six months after meeting, Lucille herself was uncertain about the marriage “Everybody gave it about a year and a half. I gave it six weeks.” this was at least partly due to Arnaz’s reputation as a womanizer. The marriage may have even come about because of his other women as Lucille heard a rumour that Desi had been seen with his ex Betty Grable just before the announcement of the elopement.

The marriage did survive 6 weeks, though their early marriage life was strained. Friends noticed that Lucille’s headstrong, independent personality started to change as she placed Desi’s wants above her own. Their relationship was very passionate but all relationships have cracks. Lucille was at the peak of her film career and was busy in Hollywood. Desi was travelling the country on tour promoting his music, not getting home or too the hotel until early hours of the morning. On top of this Desi would regularly drink and continue flirting (possibly more) with other women. They also suffered from three miscarriages before they separate for some time in the 1940s with Lucille filing for divorce, though they did reconcile this time. Lucille was down but determined to try anything to save her marriage.

While Desi was away, Lucille started to a live radio show called My Favorite Husband this became the starting point of I Love Lucy. When Lucille was asked about developing the radio show for the TV she had one condition. Desi would play her husband. This was so Lucille could keep him home instead of travelling but producers were not sure about having an interracial couple during the 50s in America. To prove that not only was America ready but Desi could do it, Lucille put together an I Love Lucy vaudeville act that received rave review. Producer could not argue against the evidence that the match of Lucille physical comedy and Desi’s charm and attractiveness. They would go onto become the most beloved couple in America.

1951 became a turning point year for the couple not only did I Love Lucy premiere introducing them to all of America, they started their own production company Desilu (more about that later) but they finally had a baby. Lucie was born in July and Lucille would later claim that children strengthen their bond. Desi even stopped seeing other women perhaps (if only for a short time) his daughter was the only other female he needed. William Asher (director of I Love Lucy) would later say “When they were having the baby and we did the show about the birth of Little Ricky [their second child], Desi was terribly emotional about her. He really was crazy about her. You could feel how they felt.”

Desilu production helped keep most of the control for the sitcom with Desi and Lucille. This resulted in I Love Lucy being the first show that used multiple cameras using three and a live studio audience to capture a more stage like affect with fewer takes. Desilu also insisted on recording the show onto tape allowing reruns to occur and film rights to be held by Desilu, which is seen by many as the shrewdest moment of foresight in the history of the silver screen as all of the profits from these, resulted in Desilu becoming the No. 1 independent TV production company in the U.S. by 1967. Desi and Lucille started with equal shares of 25% each with Desi taking the position of President and Lucille as his Vice President, the first woman to hold such a position.

I Love Lucy established not only the first interracial couple on TV but became one of the earliest example of a pregnancy on TV. Producers insisted that the word pregnancy would never be used and Lucy was only “expecting” this was because they were afraid that people would be offended and it would insinuate that Lucy and Ricky had had sex even though they had separate beds, the 50s was a special time. By coincidence, the character of Little Ricky was born in the episode that aired the same day that Lucille had the caesarean birth of her own son Desi Jr. which was also the same day as President Eisenhower’s inauguration (Little Ricky had a larger TV audience). Lucille was well aware of the affect the show was having on American culture as a whole and made sure to feature strong and positive female friendships as well as focusing a lot of the comedy around her own facial expression and body language.

Despite the fact that they portrayed a happy family with small problems that could be solved in ½ hour or so, the marriage was falling apart. While they had been the strongest they had ever been at the start of the show by the end of the show in 1957 they were arguing all the time. Those early cracks that they believed had been plastered over started to grow due to Desi’s alcoholism, his wandering eye and stress resulted from the Desilu production company as well as the pressure of keeping up appearances. Desi later suggested that he struggled to be known as “Mr. Ball” that resulted in the return of his wandering eye. Lucille would be at her happiest when the camera was on but as soon as the take ended they would start fighting. Possible due to the negative feelings towards the title “Mr. Ball” they created a spin-off show known as The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour however the day after filming the 13^th episode (which was directed by Desi) in 1960 Lucille filed for divorce.

Despite a turbulent marriage, their divorce was very amicable, they split their TV empire equally, split their 4 houses equally and agreed to joint custody with her receiving $450 a month in child support, all this without getting a single lawyer involved. Lucille really struggled in the immediate aftermath of the end of the twenty-year marriage, she felt she had let not only herself and her family down but also the American people. Lucille would later buy out Desi of their production company, as he would step back for entertainment after the divorce. They did however stay friends for the rest of their lives; friends would say that they never really got over each other even though they both married again. When Desi was fighting cancer in 1986, Lucille supported him even calling him two days before he died, it would have been their 46^th wedding anniversary. His last words to Lucy on the phone is said to be “I Love you too, honey. Good luck with your show”. Despite not many people thinking the relationship wouldn’t last 2 years including the bride, their love persevered for nearly 50 years and changed the way sitcoms were recorded.

Lucille would on to marry comedian Gary Morton in 1961, they had a less passionate but more tender and loving towards each other, they were together for over 25 years longer than her first marriage. Lucille did not think she’d return to acting but she did returning to TV with Here’s Lucy and rather than her real life husband she was joined by her children. Lucille would later take full control of Desilu, which would go onto produce The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Untouchables Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. The cost of Star Trek was one of the reasons she had to sell the company to Paramount in 1967. She suffered a heart attack in 1988 and later died on August 6^th 1989.

Lucy has become a legend and an inspiration for many people but particularly women in comedy, business and production. She was known as a perfectionist and a workaholic but what she gave to the world is insurmountable. The joy, laughter (Some of the laughing tracks used by sitcoms even know was recorded during the filming of I Love Lucy) and the pure escapism that she gave a country during the cold war and even now is priceless. Yes, you can still watch many of Lucille’s shows in syndication even now, with many turning to it in times of pain and anguish.

Why is Lucille an inspiration?

Lucille never let other people’s opinion stop her from doing what she loved and being who she was. She worked hard for everything she had, she used her initiative to change the TV scene forever. For the first time ever Lucille put real life on the TV and allowed people to laugh over and over again. She took what she was good at, comedy and expressive facial expression, and worked hard until she was seen as the best of those by everyone.

Learn more about Lucille in
Love Lucy by Lucille Ball	A Book by Desi Arnaz	Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie
Lucille Ball’s one and only autobiography. Some of her claims are disputed by varying people however it is interesting to read what she wanted her legacy to be.	Desi Arnaz’s memoir about his life including his marriage to Lucille, the by-line is even states “The man who loved Lucy” it is interesting to learn about the marriage from the side of the wronged party.	A Documentary of home footage from Lucille and Desi’s marriage complied together by their daughter Lucie with interviews from those that knew them.